BEFORE becoming President, Mr SR Nathan was known for his notable career in the civil service.
Yet, few knew that for six years from 1956, the young Mr Nathan worked as a seamen welfare officer helping trouble-stricken sailors and port workers.
These early experiences as a social worker are documented in his first book, Why Am I Here?, launched yesterday.
The 120-page book is a personal account of his work and struggles as a welfare officer, and the effort that he and others made to help workers overcome problems, which ran the gamut from dismissals to pay and family issues.
Speaking to the media at the Istana last week, ahead of the launch, Mr Nathan, 85, said he was encouraged by friends to record his civil service experiences.
While he had a varied and distinguished career, he chose to focus on this period.
-- ST
actually har, I notice we haven heard anything from our singapore president for a long time le...
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It's like we'll only see him only for national day like tat...
I forgot abt him! o.O
and now he's a good-for-nothing parasite on the people...................
Originally posted by As romanista2001:and now he's a good-for-nothing parasite on the people...................
He is good at waving okie!
Originally posted by Fallen-Angel:
He is good at waving okie!
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maybe he went for hand waving course ![]()
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
maybe he went for hand waving course
Of course! Disappear for so long, of course go learn courses to prepare himself for the 15-min of appearance for this whole year.
I more interested in Nathan's ISD career.
In August of the same year, Nathan moved to the Ministry of Defence where he was Director of the Security and Intelligence Division(SID), with the rank of Permanent Secretary. He was involved in the Laju incident on January 31, 1974, when members of the terrorist Japanese Red Army (JRA) bombed petroleum tanks on Pulau Bukom off the coast of Singapore. Nathan, was among a group of government officers who volunteered to be held hostage by the JRA to secure the release of civilian hostages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellapan_Ramanathan#Civil-service_career
and what about that story floating in yeocheowtong.com about Nathan working for the Kempeitai during WW2........................got photos some more.............
anyway, no surprise since LKY supposedly worked for the Japs too eh ? so they are long time colleagues !
His ancestors were Hakka, the Chinese tribesmen who migrated from northern China to Fujian and have a reputation for pugnacity and clannishness. Lee was a third generation Straits Chinese, however, and grew up speaking Malay, English and the Cantonese dialect of his family's maid.
Ever the pragmatist, he was later to teach himself Japanese, Mandarin and Hokkien as the political situation in Singapore required. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore he worked for a Japanese government propaganda department...
http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/lee1.html
"Now, from all the already released records in London as well as other historical researches, it is clear that in launching Operation Cold Store, Lee Kuan Yew was serving the then strategic interests of Britain which wanted Singapore to continue to provide a forward military base in Southeast Asia," said Lim
"It is also now an undeniable fact that Lee worked earlier for the Japanese military during the Occupation making Britain's English materials available in Japanese-language for the occupiers," he added.
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articlelimhocksiew.html
The Sook Ching massacre (Chinese: è‚…æ¸…å¤§å± æ®º) was a systematic extermination of perceived hostile elements among the Chinese in Singapore by the Japanese military during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, after the British colony surrendered on 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. Sook Ching was later extended to include Chinese Malayans as well. The massacre took place from 18 February to 4 March 1942 at various places in the region.
The term Sook Ching (肅清) means "a purge through cleansing" in Chinese and it was referred to as theKaky�shukusei (�僑粛清), or "purging of Chinese") by the Japanese. The Japanese also referred to it as theShingap�ru Daikensh� (シンガ�ール大検証), lit. "great inspection of Singapore".
The figures of the death toll vary. Official Japanese statistics show fewer than 5000 while the Singaporean Chinese community claims the numbers to be around 100,000.
Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister who ruled Singapore from 1959 to 1990, said in a Discovery Channel programme that the estimated death toll was, "Somewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 young men, Chinese".[6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sook_Ching_massacre#Death_toll
an undeniable fact that Lee worked earlier for the Japanese military during the Occupation making Britain's English materials available in Japanese-language for the occupiers,"
Originally posted by Vote PAP OUT to Save SG:I more interested in Nathan's ISD career.
In August of the same year, Nathan moved to the Ministry of Defence where he was Director of the Security and Intelligence Division(SID), with the rank of Permanent Secretary. He was involved in the Laju incident on January 31, 1974, when members of the terrorist Japanese Red Army (JRA) bombed petroleum tanks on Pulau Bukom off the coast of Singapore. Nathan, was among a group of government officers who volunteered to be held hostage by the JRA to secure the release of civilian hostages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellapan_Ramanathan#Civil-service_career
Idiot don't know the difference from MSD and ISD.
If I were the welfare officer, I would have kept my welfare FIRST in mind.